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Chapter Two
“Fathers and Daughters”
“C’mon, Al! Why do you have to be so stubborn?”
“I’m seventy years old, Sam; I think I’ve earned the right.”
Sam sighed in exasperation and shook his head. They’d been going around in circles for the last half-hour about this, and Al was getting more and more impossible. “I’m not saying we have to live there, just...”
Al held up a hand. “Sammy. Just...think for minute, will you? I’m not exactly in prime health. Do you, as a doctor, really think it’d be a good idea for me to be sleeping on the cold, hard ground, for any amount of time?” He raised an eyebrow, waiting expectantly for his friend’s reply.
Sam drew a breath to say something, held it as he thought for a few moments, then slowly let it out as he shook his head. “No. I guess not.”
Al grinned. “See? I knew you’d come around to my way of...”
“So we’ll just rent a cabin in the woods, instead,” Sam interjected before Al could finish his sentence.
Al stared at him, wondering if Sam had completely lost it. “A...cabin?”
Sam slapped his hands together and rubbed them, warming to his new angle. “Yeah. It’d be great. Nice little log cabin, somewhere near the mountains. Couple of bedrooms, a nice fireplace, maybe close by a stream so we could go fishing.”
“Oh, right. A cabin. That’s a great idea, Sam. I suppose you want to find a nice, secluded one, too? Far away from any traces of civilization?”
Sam, lost in his new plan, completely missed the sarcasm in Al’s voice. “Exactly,” he agreed with a nod. “We won’t take any phones, there won’t be a TV or any other distraction.”
Al folded his arms over his chest. “So...instead of me freezing to death in a tent, you’ll just use me as bait for the redneck zombie family?”
Sam, who’d begun pacing while he started changing his plans, stopped in his tracks, and slowly turned to frown at Al. It took him a couple tries to get anything out, and then he managed “What??”
“Or maybe it’ll be a crazed lunatic with a chainsaw,” Al went on, fighting down the chuckle at the look on Sam’s face. “I certainly couldn’t outrun whatever comes after us.”
Sam shook his head roughly. “What in the world are you talking about?”
Al raised an eyebrow, enjoying this quite a bit. “You said you wanted to find us a nice little cabin in the woods, somewhere far away from civilization, with no phones, right?”
Sam nodded, still not understanding where Al was going with this.
“Right. Four of us, of which two are...very decidedly female,” Al went on, taking on the tone of one explaining something to a child. “No phones, no one to hear us if we scream...” He trailed off, waiting...
“AL!” Sam threw his hands up in the air as he finally figured out what his friend was getting at. “This isn’t going to be some...horror movie, for crying out loud!”
Al was about to say something else when his wife walked in. She saw the look on Sam’s face, and turned to him. “He’s being infuriating again, isn’t he?”
Sam sighed, and shook his head. “No, he’s just...being Al.”
“It’s what I’m best at,” his friend said with a large grin. “Hi honey.” He kissed Tina’s cheek, and took the shopping bag from her.
“Second best,” Tina corrected, returning his kiss and then stretching up on her toes to give Sam a quick peck on the cheek before carrying the two grocery bags into the kitchen. “So, what were you two arguing about?”
“Not arguing,” Al denied, following her in. He knew from long experience that it was best to stay out of her way while she unpacked and put away the groceries, so he perched on a stool at the counter.
“Just...disagreeing vociferously,” Sam explained, leaning against the archway while Tina pulled items from the bags and zoomed around the small kitchen.
She paused long enough to cock an eyebrow at him. “I could hear you in the hallway,” she pointed out, popping a bag of French fries into the freezer.
Al put an elbow on the counter and leaned back, watching her hurry about. He’d once offered to help, but had nearly gotten run over three times and had given up. Now he just stayed on the periphery until she was done. He could never understand why she was in such a hurry, but he did appreciate the efficient way she had for storing things – he never once had to ask where anything was.
“We weren’t that loud.” He frowned and looked at Sam. “Were we?”
Sam shook his head, bemusedly watching Tina stretch up and make a short hop to get a bag of rice onto a shelf just out of her reach. “The walls are thin. Tina, why use that shelf if you have trouble reaching it?”
Al closed his eyes briefly. He’d wondered the same thing, since of the three of them only Sam would be able to easily get anything from the shelf. When he’d asked Tina, the scathing look she’d given him had effectively shut him up for an hour. Now he waited to see how she’d answer his best friend.
“Why waste space?” she replied, folding the first empty bag and storing it under the sink. She grabbed a canister of coffee from the second bag and put it away. “So. What were you two...disagreeing loudly about?”
“This knucklehead seems to think it’d be a good idea to take a vacation,” Al told her.
Tina shrugged a shoulder as she set the few non-food items aside to put away later. “I think that’s a great idea.”
“Hey! Whose side are you on?” Al asked, hurt clear in his voice.
She stopped and turned to look at him. “Oh, Al.” She shook her head and patted his shoulder. “It’s not a matter of sides. I think we all need to...get away from here for a little while. What’s wrong with that?”
Al blinked a few times, and slowly shook his head. Pointing at Sam, he said, “He wants to go camping.”
“I said we could rent a cabin, Al,” Sam shot back, feeling frustration start to mount again. Al was being ridiculous about this whole thing, making Sam start to regret having brought it up in the first place.
“That sounds nice,” Tina said, putting the half-gallon of milk in the refrigerator and folding the last bag. She turned to face her husband, arms folded across her chest. “Why are you fighting this, Al? I can’t even think of the last time you took a weekend off, much less anything resembling a vacation.”
Feeling a headache starting, Al closed his eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose. “I...I couldn’t, Tina. You know that. Until we got Sammy home, I...had to be here.” He opened his eyes when he felt her take his hand, and looked up at her gently smiling face.
“But he’s home now, honey. Why can’t we just...go somewhere for a little while?” She sat on a stool next to him and slipped an arm around his waist, leaning her head against his shoulder. “We could go somewhere like Oregon or Washington, where they’ve got those fantastic waterfalls and lush, green woods.” She looked down at their twined hands, resting on Al’s thigh, and noticed he’d put his wedding band back on.
“Yeah, but now Sammy Jo’s...” Al started.
“She’s just tinkering, Al,” Sam repeated, exasperation clear in his voice; this wasn’t the first time Al had tried using Sam’s daughter as an excuse. “It’s not like she’s going to get the Accelerator up and running and jump in.” At least...he hoped she wouldn’t do something so foolish. He’d been understandably worried about that same thing when she’d first told him she wanted to try fixing the super computer, but the damage from the lightning bolt that had brought him home had been catastrophic, and he was sure the chamber was destroyed beyond repair.
Al looked up at him, his dark eyes haunted; clearly, that was his fear. “You don’t know that,” he said, his voice husky. “She’s your daughter, Sammy. She’s got your brains, your drive, your...stubborn streak. What’s to keep her from just...trying it out?”
Sam wiped a hand down his face, feeling his insides knot up at the prospect of his daughter, someone he’d only just gotten to know in the three months since he’d finally returned, getting stuck in time the way he’d been. “She won’t, Al,” he said finally. “The Chamber is ruined. Both Chambers are ruined. All Sammy Jo’s trying to do is repair the damage to Ziggy so we can use her again. That’s all. No one’s planning on going back in time anymore.” He put a reassuring hand on Al’s shoulder and tried to give him a genuine smile. “That part of the Project is over. I promise. Ziggy’s like part of the family; we just want her back.”
Al sighed heavily, and finally nodded. “Ok,” he acquiesced. “Go ahead. Rent a cabin.”
Tina leaned over and kissed him so hard she nearly knocked him from his perch, and Sam clapped him on the shoulder hard enough to bruise. “Ow!” he exclaimed, slipping off the stool and away from them, brown eyes glinting with mischief. “Unless you kiss and beat me to death beforehand!”
Sam just grinned and shook his head, then headed out to make some calls. Tina finished putting away the rest of the groceries, and when she came back to the kitchen she noticed Al had his eyes closed and was rubbing his temples. “You all right?” she asked with concern.
“Yeah. Just...feel a headache coming on. Think I’ll go lie down for a while.”
She frowned, but said, “All right.” She kissed his cheek as he headed for their bedroom. She gnawed on her lower lip as she got the laundry basket and started taking her new purchases out of the bag and clipping tags so she could wash the clothes. He’d been getting headaches a lot lately, and she was starting to get worried. Al had been through a lot in the past nine months, and maybe it was all just taking a toll on him. But Tina couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a complete physical, and a little tiny voice in the back of her mind started coming up with terrible scenarios for what was wrong; Al used to drink heavily, he smoked cigars for years, he’d just turned seventy. Who knew what lasting damage had been done to him and the other POWs in Vietnam.
Tina forced her fears down, and made a mental note to set up an appointment for him...after they got back from vacation. After all, maybe that’s all he needed. Just some quiet time, away from this place, with his loved ones.
“So, how did it go?” Donna asked as Sam walked into their small apartment. Since Sammy Jo had decided to stay behind to work on repairing Ziggy, and Al and Tina were staying in Al’s old quarters, Sam and Donna had decided to stay on site, as well. When Donna had returned to the Project, before Sam had come home, she’d taken quarters in the barracks, rather than the house she and Sam had lived in, so she could be close in case she was needed. Eventually they planned to all find houses off-Project, but for now they still lived underground.
Sam ran a hand through his hair and sighed heavily. “Oh, just swimmingly.” He walked over to the computer and flipped it on, then sank into the chair while he waited for the machine to boot up. “You know, I’d forgotten how pigheadedly stubborn that man can be.”
Donna smiled as she came over behind him, and started lightly rubbing his shoulders. “He’s had years of practice.”
“Mm. So he reminded me.” He opened the web browser and typed in “cabin rentals Oregon”.
Donna chuckled, then said, “Looks like you finally got him to crack, though.”
“No easy task, let me tell you.” Sam clicked on a few of the results, opening the sites in separate tabs, then changed the search criteria to “Washington state,” clicking a few of those results, as well. With a sigh he said, “The first thing he said to me when I suggested we should go camping was ‘I had my fill of “roughing it” in Vietnam, Sammy. Not really eager to relive that experience’.”
“Ouch,” Donna said in sympathy.
“Yeah. I totally hadn’t even thought of that. I just thought...” He sighed again and ran both hands through his hair, then started skimming the sites he’d pulled up.
“I know, honey.” Donna leaned over his shoulder and kissed his cheek. “What Al went through over there...I’m sure it’s always in the back of his mind.”
“Yeah, and my Leaping back there didn’t help,” Sam said bitterly.
“You didn’t have any control over that, Sam,” Donna admonished. “Fate or whatever was yanking you through time was responsible, not you.”
“But I was there, Donna. I could have saved him. Instead, I just...left him to be tortured.”
“You couldn’t have saved him, Sam. You know very well that’s not how it worked. You were there for that photographer...”
“Maggie Dawson,” Sam supplied automatically. He couldn’t remember all the names, all the dates and places he’d been in time, but that was one name, one face, one time and place he’d never forget. He still woke in a cold sweat at least twice a month, the sound of the booby trap that took her life ringing in his ears.
“Right. And wasn’t it Al who told you about the ambush and helped you save your brother’s life? He knew he was there, he knew the SEAL team was supposed to find him, and yet he chose to help you save Tom, rather than himself.”
In a voice surprisingly close to Al’s, Sam quoted what his friend had told him all those years ago in the camp bar after they’d developed the last pictures Maggie had taken, the ones that had earned her a posthumous Pulitzer. “’What the hell? I got repatriated in five years’.”
“And he told you he was free in his mind.” She hugged her husband lightly around the neck. “Sam, you have to stop punishing yourself, honey. Think about it this way – if you had saved Al, if he hadn’t lived in that tiger cage all those years, would you have ever met on Star Bright? Would he have stayed in the Navy longer? Maybe Beth wouldn’t have left him, and they’d be happily married somewhere, and you would’ve created the Project with someone else.”
Sam made a face. He loved Al like a brother, and couldn’t imagine his life without his best friend. There’d been one brief time when someone else had been his hologram, when he’d inadvertently changed time and Al had been sentenced to death for a crime he actually hadn’t committed, and Sam had been very unnerved until he’d managed to set things back on the right path.
“That would have been...very bad,” he admitted.
“It would have,” Donna agreed. “I probably wouldn’t be here, Tina wouldn’t be here...”
“How long have they been married?” Sam asked suddenly.
Donna blinked at the complete non sequitur. “What?”
“Al and Tina.” Sam twisted in the chair so he could face her. “How long have they been married?”
Donna frowned. “Oh...I don’t know...four or five years, I think.”
“You think? Weren’t you there for the ceremony?”
“Well, it wasn’t much of a ceremony,” Donna hedged. “Just...Al and Tina exchanging vows, with me, Verbeena, Sammy Jo and Gooshie as witnesses. Ziggy ‘officiated,’ if you can call it that. It wasn’t anything official, Sam. Just...” She trailed off, suddenly realizing how Sam must feel – his best friend had gotten married, and he wasn’t there for the wedding. “But I’m sure they wouldn’t mind renewing their vows, now that you’re home,” she hastened to add. “With tuxes this time.”
Sam raised an eyebrow, then turned back to his search. He opened a site and the top picture took his breath away, chasing all other thoughts out. “Donna, look at this,” he requested, pointing at the screen. “Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?”
Donna leaned over his shoulder to see the screen better, her long brown hair swinging free and brushing the side of his neck. He inhaled her scent deeply, feeling the familiar sense of peace wash over him; he was home and everyone he loved was here.
“Oh...my,” she breathed. The picture was of a waterfall cascading down the side of a mountain, surrounded by tall pine trees. The sun was sparkling through the spray where the water hit the rocks, creating several small rainbows, and the sky was an impossible shade of blue. Everything was so serene looking. Further down the page was a picture of one of the rental cabins and “It’s perfect, Sam,” she said, a wistful tone in her voice.
He smiled up at her. “It is, isn’t it?” He turned back to the screen as he reached for the phone, ready to reserve a cabin for them. “Look – perfect for trout fishing, plenty of hiking trails, electricity and running water but no televisions.”
Sammy Jo was enjoying herself. She was covered in sweat and grime, she had scorched the hair off the back of one arm and burnt two fingers, but she was still having a good time. Ziggy was a one-of-a-kind super-computer, an artificial intelligence the likes of which had never been seen before, and Sammy Jo’s father had created it. That alone was a thrill, but Sammy Jo was a member of his unique Project, and now she was working to repair the damage suffered by the computer three months ago when Sam had finally been returned home.
Sammy Jo was the one responsible for not only locating Sam in the vast stream of time, but also restructuring the retrieval program and getting him back, despite the government cutting funding and the Project going dark. She’d been able to find a secondary power source, tap into it and feed enough power to the systems to enable Al to get a lock in the Imaging Chamber. They’d lost their head programmer during the process, when an unprecedented lightning bolt had struck the Project just as she’d activated the retrieval program; Gooshie had suddenly charged across Main Control, slammed his hand against the control pad to open the Imaging Chamber door, run in and yanked Al out, moments before the Chamber exploded from the force of the lightning. No one could figure out why he’d done that, but he’d saved Al’s life by sacrificing his own.
Now Sammy Jo was working to restore Ziggy. She had actually programmed in a dormancy program, for just such an emergency, and she was hoping it had worked. Sam had designed a back-door system for the Imaging Chamber, which had come in handy when he and Al had switched places, but he hadn’t thought of creating something similar for the computer. The program Sammy Jo had written made it possible for Ziggy to back up a rudimentary version of herself, into which she’d downloaded all of her records of Sam’s travels in time. If Sammy Jo could just...revive the super computer, she could get access to those records. Maybe, with time, she and her father could determine what had gone wrong that first time.
And that was another thing Sammy Jo was still trying to wrap her head around. Sam was her father. She’d come across her mother’s name when she’d been going through Ziggy’s records, looking for anomalies in the frequency of Sam’s Leaps within certain years. After she’d gotten him home, he and Al (She still had trouble not referring to him as “Admiral;” she’d stumbled over the title not too long ago, and he’d chuckled and said “Just like your big sister” and jerked his thumb towards Ziggy’s speech center) sat down with her, and explained what exactly had happened when Sam had ended up encountering her mother at three different times in her life.
“At one point,” Al pointed out gleefully, “he was your grandfather, as well as your father.”
Whatever had been responsible for Sam’s travels through the past – Fate, Time, God or Whatever, as those on the Project liked to say – it had apparently decided that Sammy Jo would be an important part of the Project, and had done what was necessary to make sure that happened. She had a vague theory about that, about how Sam could break the cardinal rule of time travel and change things in his own personal past (meeting her mother, setting things right between Donna and her father so they ended up married) without winking out of existence. It was as if the small things in his past that he fixed made things in the “now” more right than they’d been with he’d left. Which...could give a person a severe headache if they thought about it too much.
“All right,” Sammy Jo said under her breath as she reached for a button on the console, “let’s see if this works...”
“Horses!? You never said anything about horses, Sam,” Al complained, staring at the four animals that were standing at the fence as their SUV pulled up the long gravel road.
Sam fought down the smile. “Didn’t I? I’m sorry – it must’ve slipped my mind.”
“Apparently,” Al grumbled, closing his eyes and shaking his head. This didn’t bode well.
“It’s ok, honey,” Tina assured him, resting a hand on his arm. “We don’t have to take horses to our cabin. But we do have the option of taking trail rides if we want.”
Al let out a sigh of relief and turned to smile at her. The last three days had been rather hectic as they made the final arrangements for their impromptu vacation, but now they were finally at the resort. Sam had almost literally dragged Al to the mall with him to get fishing supplies, and Al had the feeling that Sam was going to try to cram as much “fun” as possible into seven days. All Al wanted to do was spend a quiet week relaxing, although he still wasn’t sure why he couldn’t do it at home. Let Sam race around fishing and hiking and trail riding if that’s what he wanted to do.
Sam pulled up to the office and parked the truck. Getting out, he stretched and inhaled deeply. “Man, doesn’t that smell great?” he enthused. “Pines, crisp, clean air.”
“Smells like snow to me,” Al griped, climbing out of the back. He zipped his leather coat up to his chin and shoved his hands in his pockets, hunching his shoulders. “Let’s get checked in or whatever so we can get inside and warmed up.”
Sam turned to look at him. “I never knew you were a wimp, Al,” he teased.
Al gave him a half-natured glare. “I’m not a wimp, I’m just old,” he shot back.
Donna sighed and shook her head, then came around to wrap her arms around Sam’s waist. “I think it smells wonderful here. And it’s even more beautiful than the pictures on the website. But, I’m with Al – let’s get settled and warmed up. There’s definitely a nip in the air.”
Sam studied Al for a few moments as his friend looked around the property, wondering what was bothering him. With an inward sigh, he slipped an arm over Donna’s shoulders and headed for the registration office. Hopefully his friend’s attitude would mellow after they’d gotten unpacked and had a chance to warm up. He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but it actually was a bit chilly out here. As they climbed the split-log stairs, he found himself thinking more and more of settling into a chair in front of a roaring fire.
Like everything else, the registration office was built of split logs. It had a wide front porch with several rocking chairs of different styles scattered about, and large windows that looked out on the fantastic view. It was situated on top of a small hill, and Sam imagined guests enjoyed sitting around watching the sunset. He waited for Tina and Al to reach them, then opened the front door, going in after the other three. The interior could have looked very touristy, with the various taxidermy mounts, plaid-patterned log furniture and potted plants, including a Norfolk pine, but it didn’t.
They gathered at the highly polished desk and Sam tapped the small silver bell, as there was no one in sight. Within moments a tall, dark-haired man emerged from what was likely the office, and smiled when he saw them. “Beckett, party of four?” he assumed. His black hair had wide patches of white on the sides, strangely reminding Sam of old portrayals of Dracula, and his bright green eyes were framed by deep crow’s feet.
Sam held out his hand. “Right. I made the reservations; I’m Sam Beckett.”
The proprietor shook his hand. “Dirk Simon.” He indicated the sign-in book to their left. “My wife explained everything on the phone?”
Sam nodded as he signed in and handed the pen to Donna. He didn’t notice Al fidgeting as he looked closely at the man, and was surprised when his friend pulled on his arm and nodded towards the door.
“Sammy, we gotta talk,” Al hissed, darting glances at Dirk. There was desperation in his voice, and Sam frowned.
“What’s the matter? Are you sick?”
Al grimaced. “I’m gonna be if I’m right about this.” He moved further away from the counter, his back to the door. “We gotta leave, Sammy. Please.”
Sam’s frown deepened. “What do you mean? We just got here. Al, come on. I thought this was settled.”
“Sammy, don’t make me beg,” Al implored.
“Al, honey? Are you going to sign in?” Tina turned to frown at them, and noticed how pale her husband had grown. She hurried over. “What? What’s wrong? Are you feeling ok?”
Al sighed heavily and ran a shaking hand down his face. “I knew we shouldn’t have come here,” he said, his voice cracking. “I had a very bad feeling about this whole thing from the start.”
“Al.” Sam had to take a deep breath to quell the growing anger he was feeling. “Would you please tell us what’s wrong? Do you have any idea how difficult it was to book this cabin on such short notice? If they hadn’t had a last-minute cancellation...”
“I know, Sam. I’m sorry, buddy, but...” Just then he saw something that made him gasp, and tears actually sprang from his eyes. “Oh, no,” he groaned. Coming towards them with Donna was the last person in the world Al had ever expected to see again.
“...my husband’s idea,” Donna was saying to the other woman with her. “He thought we could all use a little break from things.” She stopped when they reached the group, at first not noticing how tense the atmosphere was. “This is Sam, Tina and...”
“Al,” the other woman said, her voice barely above a whisper. She stared at him, as if she’d seen a ghost.
Donna frowned, and only then realized that something was wrong. “Have you met?”
“Once, a long time ago,” the woman answered. She took a step forward, but stopped uncertainly. She looked from Al to Tina and back again.
“Beth,” Al finally managed.
Sam blinked a couple times and looked at the older woman. Her hair was silver now, but she still wore it the same. He felt as if he’d just swallowed a chunk of ice; the last time he’d seen Al’s first wife was when Al had lied to him about the purpose of his Leap in a vain attempt to keep Beth from marrying...
“Dirk,” Sam said quietly, closing his eyes and shaking his head. “Dammit. I’m sorry, Al. I should’ve known.”
“It’s ok, Sammy,” Al said, his voice still thick with emotion. “No way you could’ve.”
Tina moved over to stand in front of him, folding her arms over her chest. “We’ll go,” she said firmly.
Beth frowned at her. “What? Why?” She looked at Al, clearly confused.
Al cleared his throat a few times, then stepped around Tina. “No, it’s all right. Sam went through a lot of trouble to book this little vacation for us.” He turned to his wife, taking her gently by the arms and looking into her eyes. “I can’t keep running from my past, honey.” He smiled. “I’ll be all right.”
Tina looked up at him. “Are you sure? We can...”
He kissed her. “I’m sure,” he promised, his smile gaining strength. He turned back to Beth, slipping his arm around Tina’s waist and drawing her near. “I’m sorry, Beth. I reacted...”
“No, it’s all right, Al. I’m sure this was...something of a shock.”
“Well, to be honest, it was. It’s not every day a ghost from your past appears.” He smiled crookedly. “But...here I am.”
“Oh, Al,” Beth chided, shaking her head. She was about say more when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and Dirk said, “Everything all right here, folks?”
“Peachy with a side of keen,” Al said, straightening his back and squaring his shoulders in a move that Sam recognized as his slipping into “Admiral mode.” The sooner they could get out of here, the better for everyone. “Your lovely wife here was just filling us in on some amenities.”
“You know, we had a really long drive up from New Mexico,” Donna put in, “and we’d really like to get unpacked and settled.”
Beth was still confused, but she smiled and said, “Of course. Dirk, dear, can you give them the key to Cabin 18?”
“Why do I feel like I walked into the middle of something?” Dirk questioned, holding the key out to Sam, who quickly took it from him.
“It’s ok, honey,” Beth assured him, watching as Al and Tina headed for the door, which Sam was holding open for them. “I’ll...tell you later.”
As soon as they were out on the porch, Al took two steps to the nearest rocker and collapsed into it. Tina moved to stand next to him, and Donna stood so she was blocking any view from the window. Sam wiped a hand down his face and let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “You ok?” he asked quietly, glancing towards the door.
Al chuckled, but there was no humor in it. “Oh, yeah, Sam. I’m fine. I mean, who wouldn’t want to run into the one person they thought they’d spend the rest of their life with? Especially when they’re with the person they know they will?” He looked up at Sam, his face haggard. “I loved her for a long time, Sammy,” he went on, his voice growing thick with emotion again. “You know that. Hell, I tried to get you to break the rules for me.” He chuckled again, a dry, uncomfortable sound. “Remember what I told you all those years ago?”
Sam leaned his back against the porch railing, arms folded, and thought back. His memory was starting to come back, but some things from his Leaps were still fuzzy. “Yeah, I...I think I do. Wasn’t it... ‘If you’re lucky, life is gonna give you one shot at true love’?”
Al nodded and sighed. “Yeah. And I said that Beth was mine.” He reached for Tina’s hand and held it tightly. “Well...turns out I was wrong all these years. Beth was my first love. But...she wasn’t my true love.” He kissed Tina’s hand and got to his feet. “Now, come on. We’ve got a lot of unpacking to do.”
When the Project was still active, most people who worked on it lived on site. Those few who didn’t need to be on call 24/7 lived in nearby towns, but the military guards, most technicians and the senior staff all had quarters within the Project. Sam and Donna had a house, but Al had lived in the barracks, as had Tina and Dr. Beeks. Sammy Jo had taken quarters below ground, but now that most of the staff had left, she moved up to the top level. Eventually she was hoping that she and her father and Donna, as well as Al and Tina, could find homes near each other, maybe in Lordsburg, or possibly in Albuquerque. But for now, she wanted to stay on-site.
The four friends had been on their vacation for three days, and Sammy Jo had actually taken a couple days off herself. She had a program running that she didn’t need to monitor constantly, so she decided to go into town for some supplies. She had her wrist communicator on, and she’d be notified when the program finished, or if something went wrong that required her attention. Until then, she had a few hours to herself, so she went to the small strip mall, hoping to find a little welcome-home gift for her father.
She drifted into a bookstore and started browsing the shelves. There was so much Sam had missed in the ten years he’d been traveling in time; he didn’t know anything about the current craze concerning the adventures of a young wizard and his friends, for instance. The first book came out two years after he first stepped into the Accelerator, the fifth one had just come out last year. Music had changed a lot in the last decade, too. And there were so many television shows that had come and gone...
She paused in front of a rack of calendars, and had to fight down a sudden giggle. It was tempting, but somehow giving him a calendar seemed a bit...cruel. Although...she reached out for one on weather phenomena and lifted it out to look at the back. No, a calendar featuring fantastic bolts of lightning would definitely not be an appropriate gift.
Sammy Jo sighed as she put the calendar back. It shouldn’t be so hard to find Sam something nice. Except she really didn’t know him, other than what she’d heard from his friends, and what she’d gleaned from Ziggy’s records, and conversations she’d had with the computer. But that wasn’t a way to know someone, not really. She knew he didn’t like rap music (who did?) but did like musicals, like “Man of La Mancha.” She knew he used to go hunting on the farm in Indiana, mostly pheasants and deer, and that he played basketball in high school. But none of that helped her pick out a gift.
“Well, that was a defeated sigh,” a voice said from behind her.
Sammy Jo gasped in surprise and spun around to see who had snuck up on her, nearly upsetting a cardboard display for the aforementioned wizard series. Standing in front of her was a woman with pale brown hair and dark brown eyes and a rather bemused expression.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” she said, offering a hand. “Name’s Cat.”
“Sammy Jo. Guess I’m wound a bit tight.” She shook hands, and for a brief moment felt a strange sense of... “Have we met?”
Cat frowned. “I don’t think so.”
“Huh. For a moment there, you reminded me of someone I know.” Sammy Jo shook her head, and sighed again.
“There it is again.”
“What?”
“The sigh. It sounds like ‘I’m at my complete wits end’.”
Sammy Jo smiled. “Well, not quite that bad, but...yeah. I’m a bit stumped. Trying to pick out a gift.”
“Oh? Maybe I can help; I’m pretty good at picking gifts.”
“Even for someone you’ve never met?”
Cat shrugged a shoulder. “Try me. What’s he like?”
Sammy Jo blinked. “How’d you know it was a he?”
Cat grinned. “Women are easier to shop for.”
“You do have a point there. It’s for my father. But he’s been...away and...I don’t really know him too well.”
“Mm. That’s tough. I never knew my father. Well, not my biological father, anyway. Mom said I look like him, but she doesn’t talk about him much. About the only time I did hear her talk about him was when she’d be suing him for more money.” Cat had a far-away look as she talked about her parents, then shook her head. “Sorry. Geez, listen to me, would you? Practically pouring out my life story to a complete stranger.”
Sammy Jo smiled faintly. “It’s all right. Sounds like you had a rough childhood, too.”
Cat arched an eyebrow. “Too?”
Without really knowing why, Sammy Jo felt she could trust Cat. Not with the whole truth, of course, but...a version of it. “Yeah. My dad...well, he...he sort of...well, he left my mother shortly after...well...you know...”
Cat’s other eyebrow went up, but before she could say anything, Sammy Jo hurried to continue. “No, it wasn’t like that. He loved her. It’s just...at the time...they couldn’t be involved, because he was the sheriff’s deputy and my mother was about to face a lynch mob because the little boy she’d been babysitting had disappeared. The boy was found, and my mother was cleared, but my father...had to go away.” She shook her head. “This all sounds way more horrible than it really is, believe me. Things in my life are just...complicated.”
Cat blinked slowly. “I...see. Well...ok. So...your father was a deputy, he was gone for a while, but now he’s back?”
“No. I mean...yes. I mean...” Sammy Jo sighed again.
“Complicated. I get it. Well...what does he like?” She gestured towards the smoke shop area of the bookstore. “Does he smoke?”
“God no,” Sammy Jo said. “The Admiral does. Did. Cigars. But not anymore.”
Again one of Cat’s eyebrows went up. “Admiral?”
“My father’s best friend is a retired Naval Admiral.”
Cat let out a low whistle. “You do move in interesting circles.”
Sammy Jo chuckled. “You don’t know the half of it.”
“Al? Hello?” Sam waved a hand in front of his friend’s face. “Your turn.”
Al blinked and slowly focused on Sam, then looked down at his hand. He frowned, then selected a card from the pile, looked at his hand again, slipped that card in place and discarded a different one. “Sorry. Got...sidetracked,” he apologized.
“Yeah, I noticed,” Sam said with a smile as he eyed his own hand of cards. They were deep into a game of 500 Rummy, and his significant lead had dwindled with the last hand. But he was holding the queen of spades, which was worth forty points, as well as the king. He just needed the jack or the ace in order to be able to play the queen, and have the points work for him instead of against him. He glanced over at the cards Al had laid out in front of him. A run of jacks, but not the jack of spades. Sam drew from the pile; the ten of spades. He had the eight and nine, so he laid them down, still hoping to get one of the other cards in his next turn, and discarded the nine of hearts.
“I wonder if she has kids?” Al mused, picking up the discarded nine and laying down a run of eight, nine and ten of hearts.
Sam frowned in confusion as Al discarded the eight of clubs. They’d been talking about his Leaps and the changes he’d affected on the Project and those who worked there. “Who?”
“Beth,” Al answered, picking up his bottle of beer. “I didn’t want kids when we were married. Didn’t think it’d be fair to them, since I was gone so much. And then I was...gone and...” He sighed heavily.
Sam felt a twinge of guilt; twice he’d had a chance to change things for Al, but he’d done what he was supposed to for the other people in those particular Leaps. Al had begged him to keep Beth from marrying Dirk, but Sam had been there to keep a policeman from being killed. And when he’d Leapt into his brother’s platoon in Vietnam their mission to rescue several POWs, Al among them, was aborted because of an ambush led by the Chieu Hoi traitor who had infiltrated the camp. Sam and another team member had managed to get ahead of the enemy and alert Tom and the rest to the ambush, but they weren’t able to rescue the prisoners.
“I’m sorry, Al,” he started.
“Hey, no. I’m not blaming you, Sammy.” Al sighed, and took a long pull on the beer. “Beth and I...what we had...” He shook his head. “Well, obviously it wasn’t meant to work. I was just...wondering.”
Sam folded his cards and put them face down on the table. Clearly the game was over, or at least on hold for a while. “It’s a different life, Al. Does it really matter? She’s happily married, you’re happily married...”
Al winced. “Yeah. Sorry we didn’t wait ‘til you got home, buddy, but...” He shrugged.
“You didn’t know if I ever would. It’s ok, Al.” Sam smiled at him. “I wasn’t around for the other five, either.”
“Ouch. That’s low.” Al chuckled, though, since even he was aware of how ridiculous his constant mixing up his former wives was. “Yeah, well...this time, I’m taking that whole ‘Until death does us part’ thing literally.”
He’d meant it as a joke, but Sam felt his throat suddenly close up at that thought. He finished his own bottle of beer, and tried to steer the conversation back to a lighter topic. “You would’ve made a great father,” he said with assurance.
“Ha! Really, Sam? I was a boozer, a womanizer, I smoked like a chimney...”
“Come on, Al. Remember little...Teresa? You were great with her.”
Al got a wistful look. “Yeah...Teresa. What a sweetie.”
“And other times there were kids who could see you...” Sam reached over and patted Al’s hand. “I was right, you know.”
Al frowned. “About what?”
“All those years ago, when I stood up to the government for you. I knew you were a terrific person, you were just hurting.” He smiled warmly at his friend, happy beyond words to finally be back home with him, with his family, where he belonged.
Al didn’t say anything for a while, then wiped tears off his face and complained, “Dammit, Sammy. We were having a serious conversation. What’d you have to get all sappy for?” He drained the last of his beer, but it couldn’t wash the lump of emotion from his throat.
“I’m about to get even worse,” Sam warned.
“Don’t...don’t say it, Sam. I’m warning you.” Al pointed the beer bottle at his friend. “Don’t you dare...”
“I love you, Al.”
“I don’t know how you did it,” Tina said, shaking her head, as she Donna were walking back to the cabin after they’d gone horseback riding.
“Did...what?”
“You two hadn’t been married very long before Sam left Star Bright and started working on his own project. And then he...disappeared...”
“I knew he’d come home,” Donna stated.
“But all those years...not knowing who or what or where he was...” Tina stopped, leaned on the railing of the stairs leading up to their cabin, and looked out over the view. The sun was just starting to go down over the lake, and the air was starting to chill.
“Al always told me,” Donna said, joining her friend. “Even when it was something he thought I’d be...uncomfortable knowing. After that initial Leap, when we found out he was...in someone else...” She sighed, looking more into the past than out at the lake. “It was hard, at first, but...Sam is such a wonderful person...once we knew he was back there trying to help people...it got a little easier.”
“But you told Al not to remind him of you.” Tina turned to study Donna’s profile. Of everyone on the Project, only Al and Ziggy remembered how things were when Sam first stepped into the Accelerator. She knew that Sam and Donna hadn’t always been married before he started building Project: Quantum Leap, but only because she was there when Sam altered Donna’s history by reuniting her with her father. For Donna, the memory of that other life, where she’d stood him up at the altar because she was afraid of abandonment, no longer existed.
Donna shook her head. “I knew that...he couldn’t do what he had to...if he remembered me. He had to...commit himself fully to whoever he had become. He couldn’t...not fall in love with someone, if that’s what he was supposed to do, if he remembered that he was married.”
“You’re amazing,” Tina said, with no small amount of awe.
Donna smiled and turned to her. “That’s what Al said to me the night after Sam left again. We were out on the veranda, talking about where Sam was and what he was doing. I told him I knew Sam would come back again. It was just a matter of time.”
Tina smiled. “Time, and an insanely smart daughter.”
Donna’s smile faded. “Yeah.”
“What?”
Donna shook her head. “Nothing. Just...”
“Bit awkward?”
“Just a little,” Donna admitted. “But...that goes with the territory. Sammy Jo’s wonderful, and I love her as if she were my own daughter. It’s just...” She trailed off with a sigh.
“The guys should really see this sunset,” Tina said after a few moments. “I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be spectacular.”
Donna looked at the sky, which was various shades of pink, from pale rose to deep salmon. “Reminds me of one of Al’s shirts,” she said with a chuckle.
Tina laughed. “Yeah, he always did have a...colorful wardrobe.”
“Never boring.”
“Nope. I think it was kind of...all those years in the military, having to wear a uniform, always everything just so, to code. This is kind of his way of rebelling, of...expressing his individuality.”
“That makes a lot of sense, actually.”
They watched the sun sink below the horizon in companionable silence, and then noticed the faint strains of a guitar coming from their cabin. They exchanged looks of surprise and confusion, then headed up to find out what was going on.
Donna opened the door to find her husband sitting on the edge of the table, guitar resting on his thigh, and Al leaned back in his chair, eyes closed as he listened to Sam sing a Bonnie Raitt song.
“I know it’s hard sometimes/And things seem larger than they are/But if you need to let it go/Then you can call on me...”
To her surprise, Tina walked over to stand next to Sam and finish the chorus with him. Al opened his eyes, clearly as surprised as Donna, and sat up.
“Cry on my shoulder/I’ll help you dry your eyes/Cry on my shoulder, my love/Cry on my shoulder/I’ll help you rise above/Cry on my shoulder, my love...”
“And you’re sure?”
“99.89% positive, Doctor.”
Sammy Jo considered what this meant, then said, “All right. Thank you, Ziggy.”
“Doctor, if I may...you seem...disappointed.”
Sammy Jo shook her head. “Not disappointed, really. Just...this...changes things.”
“How so?”
“Well, I was...really starting to like Cat.”
“Is there some reason you no longer can?” the computer inquired.
“It’s...not the same,” Sammy Jo said.
“I’m not sure I understand why not. She hasn’t changed.”
“No, she hasn’t.”
“So then why can you no longer be friends?”
Sammy Jo chuckled lightly. “Have you ever heard the expression ‘friends with benefits’?”
The computer was silent for a while, and then said, “Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“Yes. I see how that could make things...awkward. Well, perhaps...don’t tell her?”
Sammy Jo sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “Believe me, I considered it. But...it wouldn’t be fair to Cat. She deserves to know the truth.”
“Ms. Reynolds is currently in the library.”
Sammy Jo smiled warmly. “Thanks Ziggy.” She started to leave her quarters, and then paused. “And Zig?”
“Yes, Doctor Fuller?”
“It’s good to have to you back.”
“It’s good to be back. Thank you.”
“Can I recommend you don’t play lightning rod in the future?”
The super computer actually chuckled. “I’ll do my best to heed that warning.”
Sammy Jo grinned as she headed to find her friend. Her father and the others would be home tomorrow, and there was a lot she wanted to tell them. But first things first – she needed to talk to Cat. Alone.
It’d only been four days, but she’d really grown fond of the young woman. Perhaps...too fond? Sammy Jo wasn’t sure what the feelings she was developing towards Cat were; she’d never really pursued a relationship before, since her studies had taken most of her free time in school and college, and she’d joined the Project almost as soon as she’d graduated. And there certainly weren’t a whole lot of opportunities for dating here. She considered Caitlin Reynolds a friend, that was true. A very good friend, despite the short amount of time they’d known each other. There was something...comfortable about her.
As Ziggy had predicted, Sammy Jo found Cat in the library. Although the parallel hybrid computer contained vast stores of information and had access to other records around the country, Sam had insisted on having a library built, not only for historical texts and documents, but also for regular books so Project members could read at their leisure. It was a fairly large room, with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves along all four walls, a couch and several comfortable chairs with floor lamps nearby. Cat was curled in one of the chairs, deep into a thick book. Sammy Jo smiled to herself as she approached and saw what she was reading.
“Got you hooked, didn’t I?” she asked as she came in.
Cat stuck her finger in the book to hold her place and looked up with a grin. “Yeah, thanks a lot. You said there’s three other books?”
Sammy Jo sat on the end of the couch closest to Cat, and nodded. “Yep. The fifth one just came out last year.” She grinned. “Oh, and you’re really going to hate me when I tell you they’ve made movies, too.”
Cat closed her eyes and groaned. “Oh, no. Movies?”
“Just the first three so far.”
“And I suppose you’ve seen them?”
“Of course. Three times in the theater, and of course I bought them on DVD as soon as they were released.”
Cat feigned horror. “Oh no. You’re addicted.”
Sammy Jo grinned. “Worse things to be addicted to.” She shifted a little and then said, “Hey, Cat? You remember that blood sample I took?”
Cat noticed the change in her friend’s demeanor, and frowned. “Yeah. You said it was so I could get security clearance. What? Did I fail?”
Sammy Jo shook her head, and tried to figure out the best way to approach this. Straight out truth was best, she decided. “No. No, that’s fine. Just...well, Ziggy ran some tests and...”
Al was driving home. Sam and Donna were asleep in the backseat, and Tina was curled up next to him, also asleep. They’d taken turns driving to and from Klamath Falls, Oregon, since it was a nineteen hour trip. With brief stops for gas and a quick bite to eat, they were making very good time. The longest stretch of their return journey was behind them; in a few hours they’d be back home.
Al had the radio tuned to a station out of Phoenix that was playing Big Band, and he had the volume low. He had a lot to think about, and the relative quiet of the cab was perfect for that. He was deep in thought, in fact, when the dashboard display lit up. It took him a few moments to notice, and then he tapped the key and answered quietly, “Yeah?”
“Sorry to disturb you, Al,” a female voice said. “Ziggy informed me you were on your way back, and I just thought I’d call, find out when to expect you.”
Al frowned. “Verbeena? I didn’t know you were back.”
“Just got in this afternoon,” the Project’s psychiatrist said. “Sammy Jo told me the good news. How is he?”
“Sam’s fine, ‘Beena. He’s getting his memory back.”
“Oh, that’s good.” She was quiet a moment, then asked, “And how are you?”
Al shook his head in quiet amusement. In only two sentences she seemed to know something was bothering him. “We’ll talk when I get back. Should be...” he glanced at the dashboard clock “another four hours. We just hit Flagstaff.”
“All right. I’ll let the others know. Drive safe, Al.”
“Seeya when we get there.” Al poked the “end call” button and grumbled a sigh. He’d hoped to have some time to sort things out on his own, before he had to talk to anyone else. Fate, however, apparently had other ideas. As usual.
Tina stirred next to him, and sat up with a small groan. She rubbed the back of her neck and looked over at him.
“Hey,” he said quietly to her.
“Where are we?”
“Flagstaff. Should be home in about four hours.”
“You been driving the whole time?” She sat up straighter and rubbed her eyes. “It’s been...what?” She looked at her watch, couldn’t see it in the dark, and looked at the SUV’s clock. “Eight hours? Al...”
He shrugged a shoulder. “I’m fine, sweetie. Besides, you three were out like a light after our last pit stop. And I...” He sighed. “I had things to think about.”
“I bet.”
“You know, you two make it impossible for a person to get any sleep,” Sam complained from the backseat.
Al turned the radio up with a grin, and then flinched when Sam whacked the side of his seat. He chuckled and said “Verbeena called. She’s waiting for you to come home.”
“I’m sure. How much longer?”
“About three and a half hours. She’ll probably be asleep when we get in.” Al indicated the clock, which read 9:00. “And before you ask, yes, I have been driving this whole time.”
Donna, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, leaned forward and asked “Why didn’t you wake one of us?”
“Because he wanted some quiet time,” Tina supplied.
Sam and Donna exchanged looks, but neither said anything. They could well imagine what was on Al’s mind.
“Well, with any luck, we can slip in unobserved and get some shut-eye,” Al suggested. “Don’t get me wrong – I’ve missed Verbeena. But the last thing I want is a session with our shrink.”
“I hear that,” Sam agreed. “I can’t imagine everyone waiting up for us to get back. I mean...I’ve been home for three months.”
“But Sam, there was hardly anyone there when you got back,” Donna pointed out.
“You really didn’t get much of a welcome-home,” Tina put in.
“I didn’t need one,” Sam denied. “It’s not like I’m some...conquering hero or something.”
“Actually, Sammy, you kind of are. No one else has ever managed to travel in time. And you not only figured out how, you survived it. Pretty damn important in my book,” Al told his friend.
“Think of the scientific journals,” Tina said. “If TIME thought you were a big deal before...”
Sam groaned. “That’s the last thing I want, Tina. Really. It’s no big deal.” He rubbed a hand down his face, feeling rather uncomfortable. He hadn’t built the Project, hadn’t stepped into the Accelerator for the accolades. He’d done it...well, if he was going to be perfectly honest with himself, he did it out of purely selfish reasons – he had wanted to be able to go back in his own past, with all the knowledge he had as an adult, and relive his life, from maybe his teenage years on, and maybe be able to change things for his family. He had eventually been given that chance, after a year or more of helping other people, but at what cost? Was his brother’s life really worth Maggie’s?
With a troubled sigh, Sam leaned his head against the window and stared out into the darkness. That had been bothering him for a long time now – who was he to make such major changes in the lives of complete strangers? Or the lives of his friends? As his memory came back to him more of the choices he’d made, more of the changes he’d brought about, seemed...wrong to him. Little things, like changing who was on the budget committee that ultimately decided to continue funding the Project, to larger things like helping Donna reconcile with her father, which led to the two of them being married. Or befriending Al on the Star Bright project and bringing him along to create Project: Quantum Leap. Selfish, every one of them. What made him think he deserved any of that? And Tina seemed to think what he’d done should be made public, published...
Sam’s eyes drifted closed and he fell into an uneasy sleep, haunted by the decisions he’d made, the “wrongs he’d put right.”
“Do you know where you are?”
Without opening his eyes, he said, “Home.” He didn’t want to open his eyes just yet. The sun was warm on his face, and it was so quiet and peaceful here. Calming. He felt safe, for the first time in years. He had a vague feeling that if he opened his eyes, all that would end.
“Do you think you belong here?” the voice questioned. There was no accusation in the words, just curiosity.
That made him frown. And then doubt started to creep in. Did he? Was he...supposed to be here? Had he...earned the right to be...where he was? “I-I don’t...I don’t know,” he admitted, anxiety flavoring his words. He felt the sun disappear behind a cloud and the air seemed to cool slightly. His heart rate sped up a little and he realized he was starting to panic. He fought to calm himself, to regain that peaceful feeling, but it was slipping away from him. He had to belong here. He’d done...so much in his life, lived through so much pain. This had to be his reward. It just...had to be.
“It’s not your time,” the voice informed him.
And with that proclamation, Al opened his eyes, heart hammering in his chest. He sat up in bed and wiped a shaking hand down his face, not surprised that it was filmed in cold sweat. He carefully swung his legs out from under the covers and sat on the edge of the bed, elbows on knees, head down, willing himself to calm down.
After a few moments he stood, then quietly walked to the bathroom. Without turning on the light, almost afraid of what he’d see in the mirror, but also not wanting to wake Tina, he turned the faucet just enough to get a couple inches of water in the glass on the sink, then turned it off, drank the water and replaced the glass, and fumbled in the dark until he got his robe off the door hook. Slipping into it, he made his way out of his quarters, blinking in the bright light of the hallway. Without a clear destination in mind, he simply started walking.
No one had stayed up to greet them when they got back, which hadn’t surprised him. He’d actually been grateful; despite what he’d told the others, he was bone tired. The long drive had taken more out of him than he’d admit. And the vacation hadn’t been exactly restful. After that first night, everyone had been so careful to not mention Beth that he’d actually suggested they have her and Dirk over for supper one night. He felt he had to prove to them, as crazy as that sounded, that he really was all right, that seeing her again had been a shock, but he was over it and they could get on with their lives, all of them.
That suggestion had been met with awkward silence, most notably from Tina. Which made Al feel like a complete cad for even coming up with it in the first place. He finally convinced her to go on a long walk with him so they could talk. At first she was stonily silent, but eventually she stopped and turned to him, and just started crying. He pulled her close and held her, struggling against his own tears. After a while he told her, again, that he loved her and only her, that Beth was in the past and he’d moved on and Tina was the one woman in the world he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. As they turned and headed back for the cabin, it began to snow, and Tina snuggled closer to him.
Al blinked when he realized his aimless wandering had brought him to the library. And that it wasn’t empty.
“Oh. Sorry, didn’t realize anyone was...here.” He trailed off with a frown, wondering who the young woman curled up in the chair was.
She looked up at his voice with a slightly startled look. She had a large book on her lap, and she slipped a bookmark in place before closing it. “You must be the Admiral,” she surmised, rising. She was short, maybe five-five, and lithe, with short light brown hair and dark brown eyes. “I’ve had a serious case of insomnia ever since I got here. I was hoping this book would help put me to sleep, but it’s so damn engaging.” She smiled and held out her free hand. “I’m Cat, by the way. I believe you knew my mother.”
Al frowned as he shook her hand. “You have me at a horrible disadvantage,” he admitted. “I’ve known many women in my life.” He grimaced, and tried to make that sound less...lecherous. “I...I mean...I...ah...”
She chuckled. “I know what you meant.” She indicated the nearest chair. “Why don’t you have a seat? We have a lot to talk about.”
Al swallowed awkwardly. “We...ah...do? I have a feeling I’m not going to like this talk.”
Cat raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I don’t know about that.” She dropped back into her chair, setting the book on the small side table. “Come on, sit. I promise I don’t bite. Well...sometimes I do.” She grinned and waggled her eyebrows.
Al sank into the other chair, feeling completely flummoxed. Was she hitting on him? He shook his head and said, “So...ah...your mother...”
“Maxine Reynolds.”
“Maxine...” Al blinked a couple times, and looked at the young woman across from him carefully. “Oh...dear god...”
Al and Cat weren’t the only two having a late night (or early morning, depending on how you looked at it) conversation. Elsewhere in the Project another pair were deep in discussion.
“...so I told her everything. I felt I owed her that much,” Sammy Jo finished.
Verbeena leaned back in her chair and steepled her fingers, tapping the tips against her chin while she thought. “Interesting situation,” she mused.
“Yeah. But...her mother had told her so many terrible lies about Al, I just...I felt she needed to hear the truth. She needed to know what kind of a man he truly was, the sacrifices he’d made, what he’s done here.” She shrugged.
“That’s not all, is it?” Verbeena surmised, studying her closely.
Sammy Jo shook her head. “No, it’s not.” She sighed. “It’s...well...complicated.”
Verbeena smiled lightly. “You like her.”
“Yeah. She’s...a great kid. Despite the way her mother...warped her. Although...” She paused, thinking over her words carefully. “I have a feeling she’s...well...not too keen on men.”
“Oh?”
“It’s nothing I can prove. Just...a feeling. The way she talks, some of the things she’s told me.”
“That would make sense, actually. There’s a good chance her mother’s...influence has...soured her on a... ‘traditional’ relationship with men.”
Sammy Jo arched an eyebrow – she’d heard the quote marks around “traditional.” “I haven’t...flat-out asked her...I don’t know her well enough, but...”
“You want to, though, don’t you?”
Sammy Jo blinked in surprise. “I...I’m not sure. I...” She shifted uncomfortably in her chair, and looked around Verbeena’s office. The decorations were sparse, but homey feeling; a large print on one wall in deep shades of orange, brown and rust abstract shapes, a tribal mask and a large bronze statue of a running horse.
Verbeena leaned forward and set a hand on Sammy Jo’s knee. “Why don’t you get to know Cat better, and see what happens? Don’t go into this expecting anything, just...let things run their own course.”
Sammy Jo nodded. “Sounds good.” Suddenly she yawned. “Sorry.”
Verbeena smiled, then glanced at her watch. “Perfectly understandable. It is, after all, four in the morning.” She stood. “And I’m not as young as I once was.”
Sammy Jo grinned as she got to her feet. “Point taken. Thanks, Doc.” She hugged her friend, then headed for her quarters.
“It’s not like him to be late,” Sam worried, checking his watch again.
“He’ll be here, honey,” Donna assured him from the kitchen, where she was finishing preparing breakfast.
“He wasn’t in our room when I got up,” Tina said. “I assumed he’d gotten up early to talk with Verbeena.”
Sam frowned. “That doesn’t sound like him. Ziggy...” He trailed off, belatedly remembering that the computer had been fried when the lightning struck the Project.
“Yes?” the familiar voice replied, startling everyone.
“I...uh...wow. I didn’t...Sammy Jo didn’t mention she’d fixed you,” Sam said, shooting a look at his daughter, who grinned sheepishly.
“Well, she has. Was there something you wanted, Doctor, or were you just checking my auditory channels?”
Sammy Jo grimaced, and made a mental note to tweak the computer’s attitude later.
“I was going to ask if you knew where Al was,” Sam replied, glaring at the computer’s hidden speakers in the ceiling.
“Admiral Calavicci is asleep in the library,” Ziggy stated without hesitation. “Do you wish me to wake him?”
Tina frowned. “The...library? What on earth is Al doing in the library?”
“As I said, the Admiral is currently asleep. As is the young woman with him.”
The four exchanged looks, and Sam got to his feet. “I’m going to go find out what’s going on,” he told the others.
Sammy Jo put a hand on her father’s arm to stop him. “Ziggy, please wake Ms. Reynolds and the Admiral, and advise them that we’re holding breakfast for them,” she requested.
“Very good, Doctor Fuller.”
Tina, Sam and Donna looked expectantly at Sammy Jo, but she simply said, “I think I’ll leave explanations up to Al.”
Tina was torn between anger and quiet desperation. Al had always been a bit of a “skirt chaser,” but she had thought he was over that now. They’d been married for four years, and never once in that time had he strayed. He still admired attractive women, but she’d never felt he would act on that admiration. But if what Ziggy said was true, that he’d spent the night with another woman, a younger woman...Tina wasn’t sure what she’d do.
Ten minutes later, a very rumpled Al walked in, giving them all a sheepish look as he scratched the back of his head. “Sorry I’m late. I...ah...well...kinda...overslept.” He grinned, but it faltered when he saw the stern looks his friends were giving him.
“It’s my fault, really,” a voice said from behind him, and he stepped to the side to let the young woman enter.
The smile came back as Al made the introductions. “Caitlin Reynolds, these are my friends Doctor Samuel Beckett and his wife Doctor Donna Elessee, and my wife, Tina. Everyone, this is Cat...my daughter.”